Hullbridge Sports F.C.
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| Full name | Hullbridge Sports Football Club | |
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| Nickname(s) | The Bridge The Sports |
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| Founded | 1947 | |
| Ground | Lower Road, Hullbridge (Capacity: 1,500 (100 seated)) |
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| Chairman | Andy Burgess | |
| Manager |  Enrico Tiritera /  Colin Cook |
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| League | Essex Senior League | |
| 2010–11 | Essex Senior League, 9th | |
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Hullbridge Sports F.C. are a football club based in Hullbridge, near Rochford, Essex, England. The club is in the Essex Senior League, the ninth tier of the English football league system.
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[edit] History
[edit] Formation
Hullbridge was formed in 1947 by local residents wishing to play competitive football. The local Council purchased an area of land by the River Crouch for use as a recreational park, where the first football pitch was laid. The club first played in the Chelmsford Mid-Essex League, before joining the Southend District league, where they remained until 1982 when the league merged with the Southend Borough Combination to form the Alliance League, which the club assumed membership of.
The club expanded in the 1960s into other sports and social activities, becoming Hullbridge Sports & Social Club. In the late 70's negotiations began with the local Council to purchase their own ground, Lower Road, and in 1980 the members tackled the mammoth task of transforming 16.5 acres (67,000 m2) of farming land into a permanent sports complex, complete with clubhouse and changing facilities. The transformation was gradual and in 1983 the Clubhouse was officially opened with a licensed bar, function hall, kitchen, pool room, darts, table tennis and match room, tennis court, netball, cricket square and extensive changing rooms and showers.
In 1984 they joined the Essex Olympian League Division Two and were promoted to Division One in their debut season. They narrowly avoided relegation in their initial season in the first division, finishing 13th out of 15, but the following season, 1986-7, the club finished bottom and were relegated back to Division Two. They won the League Cup in 1987-88.
[edit] Essex Senior Football League
1989 saw the necessity for alterations to the ground to enable the club to gain senior status and for acceptance into the Essex Senior Football League (ESL). The very first ESL game played at Hullbridge was on the 25 August 1990 against Stansted in front of a crowd of over 200 spectators. The club has remained in the ESL since then. After several years it was decided to further improve facilities at the club and an appeal was launched. Many fund-raising activities were undertaken to raise money for installation of floodlighting at Lower road, which was successfully completed in time for the start of the 1998-99 season. Hullbridge Sports turned on their new floodlights for the first time on 3 September 1998 in a FA Youth Cup tie with Buckingham Town that 43 attended to see their side win 5-0. The official opener was on the 15 September against Great Wakering Rovers with 143 spectators. Their most successful season to date was 1997-8, when they finished 6th (out of 14). The season 1999-2000 witnessed one of the clubs most notable achievements when the under-18 squad reached the 3rd round of the FA Youth Cup on 1 December 1999 against Blackburn Rovers, becoming the only Essex based team ever to do so. Nearly 1000 locals turned out to support Hullbridge.
Italian Enrico Tiritera took over as manager in February 2006 and worked with former manager Steve Davidson, they managed 18 points in the last 12 games to lift them to third from bottom for the 2005-06 season. The following season, 2006–07, with the youngest team in the ESL they finished 12th out of 16th, the clubs best finish in the last 6 years and won the ESL Sportsmanship awards of 2006-07 and 2007-08. They won away to Chalfont St Peter 1-0 in the FA Cup and lost to Yaxley in the first round 2-0 at home. On 30 April 2008 Hullbridge Under 18s won the clubs second U18s Essex County Cup (Pelly Cup) beating Billericay Town 2-1 at New Lodge ground, with goals from Alex Cohglan and Joe Gardner. Lewis Manor, Joe Gardner, Sam Rodmell, Daniel Barrington, Kyle Musson, Richard Mann and Stuart Hepburn all played for the first team which shows the amount of quality they had compared with other under 18s alliance sides. They also reached the final of the Magners Cup and lost 2-0 to AFC Hornchurch, the champions of their alliance division.
[edit] 2008-09 Season
The season 2008-09 was the clubs second best in over 19 years in the ESL, with a 9th place finish and the highest number of points (41) in a league of 16 teams. They reached the 1st qualifying round of the FA Cup after beating Leverstock Green 2-1 and losing in controversial circumstances away to Rothwell Town with a goal scored from a dropped ball. Hullbridge reached the quarter finals of East Anglian Cup with a narrow 1-0 home defeat to Isthmian League Cup winners Tilbury, after knocking out Brentwood Town and Hertford Town.
[edit] Records
- Record attendance: 800 vs Blackburn Rovers, FA Youth Cup - 1999-00
- FA Cup best performance: preliminary round - 1999-00, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2006–07, 2008–09
- FA Vase best performance: first round proper - 2000-01, 2005–06
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Hullbridge Sports at the Football Club History Database
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Coordinates: 51°36′56.46″N 0°37′09.55″E / 51.6156833°N 0.6193194°E
